<p>Hi, I'm a 17-year-old senior from Bloomington, Indiana. Literally, almost all of the colleges I applied to are out east or up north... (I applied to Wesleyan, Carleton, U of Rochester, Grinnell, Brown, Muhlenberg, Boston University, Macalaster, and Northeastern University). I didn't really consider the sort of environmental change I would encounter when moving from the midwest to the east, but lately it's kind of been worrying me. </p>
<p>One of my best friends goes to Haverford in Philidelphia. He's actually pretty unhappy at Haverford, and one of his main reasons is that "the vibe is preppy and rich." Basically, he explained that most of the people at Haverford and neighboring colleges are rich, private school, silver-spoon kids who are perfectly nice, but definately used to a WAY different lifestyle then us kids from southern Indiana (many of his floor-mates were suprised he didn't own a ski-home). Basically, he says that while we may be solid middle class in Bloomington, in Haverford we are distinctly some of the less well-off kids, and that this really makes a difference in social life.</p>
<p>Now I'm really worried that I won't like the atmosphere at any of the colleges I applied to... I'm the type of girl who buys $20 jeans and occasionally "splurges" on a $15 meal at Red Lobster... I don't visit Colorado over winter break or buy Coach purses. I live on a budget.</p>
<p>So yeah I guess my question is is there actually an air of preppy-rich-kid-snobbery in east coast schools, or is my friend just being dumb? How different are they from the general friendliness of the midwest? thanks!</p>
<p>i’ve visited a few of them. i’ve seen a little bit of the “rich-kid” thing, but I feel like it’s hard to truly tell until you’re actually attending the college… which is why i’m asking people on here what they think.</p>
<p>These are on your list? You’ve listed very different schools. Not all are even in the northeast. (Haverford, btw, is known to be very small and very preppy.) I’ve grouped these schools according to similarities. </p>
<p>LACs:
Wesleyan–CT, ,2M? some preppy, but also alternative, like Oberlin or Brown wannabe
Carleton–MI Macalaster (those two are very similar) Grinnell–Ohio <2M? Haverford–PA: very small, preppy (like Trinity College)</p>
<p>Muhlenberg–PA Northeastern University–MA Boston…less academic than others</p>
<p>National Research Universities:
U of Rochester–upstate NY very conservative, Boston University–Boston very urban</p>
<p>So what kind of college are you looking for? small or large, rural or urban or suburban, liberal or conservative:</p>
<p>Rural: Grinnell, Muhlenberg
Suburban: Wesleyan, Haverford,
Urban: Northeastern, BU, Brown, Rochester (although that campus is far away from city) </p>
<p>size from small to large:
Grinnell, Muhlenberg, Haverford, Macalaster, Carleton, Northeastern, Wesleyan, URochester, Brown</p>
<p>Your list is kind of all over the place in that they are very different from one another.
What are you looking for in a college? Rural or Suburban? Big or small?
What major are you interested in? Your list kind of looks like the schools were chosen randomly from a published rankings list.</p>
<p>Having said that, you should fine tune exactly what you’re looking for in a college.</p>
<p>As far as snobby/rich vibe: You’re going to find that vibe in almost every Private college and it’s not limited to the Northeast. You will still be able to find plenty of other people who don’t fit the rich/snobby stereotype. Also, not all rich and preppy kids are snobs.</p>
<p>limabeans: you are out of your mind if you think Haverford is conservative,</p>
<p>And to the OP, this is indeed something you’re going to have to deal with anywhere. When tuition is $50,000+ a year you’re going to find wealthy kids in college. Do not dismiss them so quickly, a lot of them are down to earth and interesting people, and what you may perceive as them judging you for not being rich may just be in your head. Being distinctly less well-off does limit the scope of activities you can participate in, but by no means should that be an excuse to dismiss those who can as snobby or unworthy of your friendship. Also, your friend is not an extension of you, you shouldn’t let them cloud your judgment with bias because they may be having problems socially that are personal, and it would be sad if you missed a great opportunity because you feared the same. Give it some thought</p>
<p>I think there is a significant cultural difference between schools in the midwest and those on the east coast. (We are east coasters and S is in a midwestern LAC. After visiting LACs all over the country, he was captivated by Grinnell). We found the midwestern LACs to be more understated, much less preppy, less ‘entitlement’ attitude with a higher percentage of kids getting financial aid (you can check this statistic at each school). The schools themselves were less self-promoting and slick. The ‘ivy-league wannabee’ vibe at some NE schools was palpable and, to us, off-putting.</p>
<p>By the way, limabeans, Haverford is much smaller than Grinnell. 1,200 students vs. 1,600.</p>
<p>Zazzle, despite the cultural differences, an important part of college is getting a little outside your comfort zone. At a larger school, like Brown, you are likely to find lots of kids like you, as well as those who are very different. At a smaller NE LAC, you need to be sure you are comfortable because the culture is very strong and pervasive.</p>
<p>It depends on the school, and on the people in question. Schools on the East Coast are as different from each other as schools in the Midwest. And, whatever you might have heard, the East Coast on the whole has people from across the socioeconomic spectrum, like everywhere else.</p>
<p>Your schools are really different from each other. I can speak personally to Northeastern (I’m a master’s student there), and I can tell you that the vibe of the student population is neither rich nor snobby (I’m sure there are some rich people there, but I rarely see anyone who gives off an “obviously rich” vibe). If anything, the vibe is kinda blue-collar and very down-to-earth. I suspect that very few students there come from families that own ski homes, and that even fewer are naive enough to believe that everyone around them at college would come from a similar family.</p>
<p>Contrary to what limabeans said, it’s not unacademic.</p>
<p>BU has a rep for being a little more rich and preppy, but I don’t know how accurate that is.</p>
<p>I have no experience with Haverford, so I have no idea about the accuracy of your friend’s description.</p>
<p>As elytron pointed out, not all rich people are snobby. I have a friend whose parents own a $2.5 million <em>vacation</em> home and who has a trust fund of several hundred thousand dollars. He works for his living, wears old jeans and t-shirts, and splits the cost of an apartment with four roommates. He has never dipped into the trust fund - he’s saving it for a house. He acts and talks like anyone else and doesn’t assume that other people have money. I had no idea that his parents were rich until I’d known him for two years.</p>
<p>limabeans – Where did you get the idea that Muhlenberg is rural? The college is located in a neighborhood in the city of Allentown. While Allentown is not a huge city by any means, it is distinctly urban and is the largest municipality in a metropolitan area of 850,000 people.</p>
<p>I would agree that Haverford, while it has a large percentage of what might be termed “preppy” kids, is far from conservative. Wesleyan also has a large “prep” population if by that one means kids whose families are financially well-off and who attended private prep schools. And Wesleyan students are decidedly not conservative. I am NOT suggesting, however, that Wesleyan and Haverford exhibit the same “vibe.” Very different schools.</p>
<p>A lot of public school kids from our part of NYS go to Northeastern. The ones I have known are bright, academically motivated kids, usually in the top 10-20% of their class. BU garners a lot of interest in these parts as well, particularly among good students whose parents are not dependent upon financial aid.</p>
<p>I think you can find rich snobby kids anywhere. And honestly, they’re going to be prevalent at top colleges. College is expensive. There are going to be a lot of very well-off students. I don’t think it matters where the college is located; Stanford and Harvard both have classes with about 50% full pay students. That means at least 50% of the students are from families in the top 6% of income earners. Certainly not all of them are snotty, and certainly some of their lower income counterparts are! I tried to avoid the “rich kid” atmosphere by choosing schools with a high percentage of students receiving financial aid and by choosing schools in more lax locales (St. Louis and CA strike me as less “wealth-competitive” or “wealth-conscious” than Boston or NYC).</p>
<p>I’ve found the same to be true. There’s also a difference between the south and the north when you’re talking East Coast. It’s a cultural thing. But you can find a niche at almost any school, and I think you’ll find that most people couldn’t care less about whether or not you have a ski home once the awkwardness of orientation passes and you get down to real conversation.</p>
<p>I currently live in New England (though not born here, I was born in inner city NYC, and I’m not talking about the nice places like Manhattan), and where I live (Connecticut) is filled with those types of people. And, many of those types are also the kinds of people who apply to some of the schools you have listed (ie. Wesleyan, BU, etc.)</p>
<p>But seriously, what were you expecting from LAC colleges in New England? New Englanders in general are very snobby, IMO. And many of them tend to stay within New England and matriculate at LACs because they want a degree to please there parents, or to make themselves look dignified. Now look, don’t get me wrong here, I’m not assaulting LACs, they are fine schools on there own merits. My problem is with the people. Many, many of them will be preppy. I could barely get through high school without becoming extremely fed up with them, and I’m usually a pretty calm person too.</p>
<p>With that said, for college, I’m heading either West or South of my current position here in New England. I visited a couple schools in the South (granted they were public schools) and I received a much more comfortable vibe.</p>
<p>However, the Southeast is a very relaxing place to be. You can’t go wrong with pretty much anywhere from Maryland down to Florida. The people are more down to earth.</p>
<p>No we are not all snobby and preppy, LOL.
It’s just like anywhere else in the US, there’s a diverse variety of people. </p>
<p>I also am very careful with my spending, I don’t buy any of that over priced, overated clothes and purse things, it’s a big waste of money and pretty funny people buy it! You’re paying to have a name stamped on something that’s worth like $10 and then buying it for $100 I actually find it pretty funny people buy stuff from Juicy Couture and Hollister and all those companies.</p>
<p>At many private, selective liberal arts colleges these days, around 50% of students receive financial aid. Among the New England LACs, Trinity (Hartford) would be on the low end with about 35-40% on aid. In addition, most of these schools draw a national/international student body. Usually they come from ~35-50 states, with typically no more than about 25% from New England. The percentage of enrolled students at a top New England LAC who attended private, non-parochial schools might be around 30%. And that includes kids who attended private schools from all over the country. You can Google exact numbers for some of these schools; I’m basing the numbers I’ve stated on what I’ve looked up or recall seeing for a couple of them.</p>
<p>Some of those rich snobby kids may become some of your best friends and take you skiing on spring break. And some of the less well off kids may be bitter and cynical and negative vibe types. You can’t generalize. But visiting a campus and getting the feel for it and how you react to it is essential. There will always be annoying people. That is life. Its your job to be graceful and accepting and learn how to deal with them, make the most of your experience and move on in a mature and professional manner. </p>
<p>Money doesnt equate to class. Never forget that. Class is from the heart and soul, not the pocketbook. Be proud of who you are and be comfortable in your own skin, non judgemental and treat others as you want to be treated and everything will work out for you, and you will attract friends. </p>
<p>There will be culture shock in college. It can happen at Indiana University as well. Or Butler. Or Xavier. Or where ever. </p>
<p>People only get under your skin if you let them. Sooner or later, they will learn that you are a stronger and more substantial person and have to either change their ways around you, or move to another group for friends. </p>
<p>If you don’t want others to judge you, then don’t judge them. Its really that simple.</p>